The Grateful Dead; By Far the Most Overated Band Ever

Recommended Posts

Because they really, really suck. I don't think I have ever managed to listen to one of their songs all the way through. I am pretty sure that all 23 of their fans bought multiple copies of their albums to make them look popular.

Springsteen is okay, but the Dead??? Holy Fuck!! We named all of our Maine Coon kittens after their songs back in the late 60's, or was it early 70's? Not sure, because all those brain cells died and were replaced with new ones, kind of like skin cells sloughing off to be replaced. Casey Jones, Sugar Magnolia... and I can't remember the other two kittens names? But I do clearly remember our telephone number in 65 when I was 10 year old!! 529-9405....

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Springsteen is okay, but the Dead??? Holy Fuck!! We named all of our Maine Coon kittens after their songs back in the late 60's, or was it early 70's? Not sure, because all those brain cells died and were replaced with new ones, kind of like skin cells sloughing off to be replaced. Casey Jones, Sugar Magnolia... and I can't remember the other two kittens names? But I do clearly remember our telephone number in 65 when I was 10 year old!! 529-9405....

In 65 you were 10?!

Then you missed it.................

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Springsteen is okay, but the Dead??? Holy Fuck!! We named all of our Maine Coon kittens after their songs back in the late 60's, or was it early 70's? Not sure, because all those brain cells died and were replaced with new ones, kind of like skin cells sloughing off to be replaced. Casey Jones, Sugar Magnolia... and I can't remember the other two kittens names? But I do clearly remember our telephone number in 65 when I was 10 year old!! 529-9405....

Wait, you mean the Dead actually have names for their songs??? I thought they just kept playing the same song over and over again.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Because they really, really suck. I don't think I have ever managed to listen to one of their songs all the way through. I am pretty sure that all 23 of their fans bought multiple copies of their albums to make them look popular.

2nd most overrated band.

The most overrated band by far is Pink Floyd

I think I did an impression of that kid as I watched him.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Because they really, really suck. I don't think I have ever managed to listen to one of their songs all the way through. I am pretty sure that all 23 of their fans bought multiple copies of their albums to make them look popular.

23 (at least) fans bought all their albums 10 times each because they were always high at the record store and forgot they already owned it.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

I think that a lot of folks who don't like The Dead may actually dislike the long live jam recordings that Dead fans love ... those jam records are a more advanced kind of thing. But I think that most anyone can appreciate a Dead studio album, especially American Beauty, it's way more structured, easier to enjoy, and sweet mother, that studio Dead hooks in so hard, it's incredible.

That was the album that was in that old television show "Freaks and Geeks", Linda Cardelini's teacher gave it to her and she listened to it and turned into a Deadhead ... basically a variation of what happened to every Deadhead I've ever known ... they hate the Dead, then they get the right taste at the right time and they wake up five years later with a smile and a lot of fuzzy memories.

Try this on for size Ed. Back in the early/mid '80s, pre touch heads, I was cruising a dead show at the break in Providence or Hartford, maybe Springfield or Saratoga I don't remember but I know it wasn't Boston, when I spotted a little knot of people way in the apex of the back of the hall, about halfway up. Curious, I floated over and there was Bruce with a couple of buddies. No security, no entourage, just him and a couple of equally crusty guys. I wasn't a fan but I was intrigued, so I hung out a little and listened to why he was there, Seems he really liked and respected the way the band put the totality of the sound together, especially in a big hall. I'm quite sure that's how he put it.

He was cool as shit. I've liked him ever since even though most of his stuff doesn't do much for me.

The Dead overrated? Overrated by whom? Certainly not by their album sales, mainstream critics or those to whom their tunes held no appeal. To those of us who established a connection to the music, delusional though we may have been, it was an experience we treasure. Sorry you never got it.

Share on other sites

Springsteen is okay, but the Dead??? Holy Fuck!! We named all of our Maine Coon kittens after their songs back in the late 60's, or was it early 70's? Not sure, because all those brain cells died and were replaced with new ones, kind of like skin cells sloughing off to be replaced. Casey Jones, Sugar Magnolia... and I can't remember the other two kittens names? But I do clearly remember our telephone number in 65 when I was 10 year old!! 529-9405....

my boat is named "Ripple" biotches............ and it ain;t cause of the cheap wine

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

BTW.... I don't ever recall the Dead being as politically outspoken as Stinkstien... IMPO a sign that one has recognized they are becoming irrelevant.

I wasn't aware that musicians weren't allowed to be politically outspoken. Imagine if all music was limited to the sunny, rainbow and unicorn, blond world of the Beach Boys. People that don't like Springsteen are the same folks that think his scathing indictment of America, Born In The USA is a flag waving tribute to all that is good in the US, like Ronnie Reagan thought. Bruce is a brilliant song writer, his songs are about ordinary people trying to understand their place in the world and about all of the problems and pitfalls of our existence but often tinged with hopeful optimism that things will get better if you just keep trying. The woman in this song didn't quite make it. https://youtu.be/kVeXf0AYVSw?t=1h5m35s

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

I saw Springsteen several times. Pretty much sucked ass. Except this one show all the little girls (like soak_ed) were screaming in unison with high pitched girly voices "Bruce, Bruce, Bruce" and Springsteen walks up to the edge of the stage and barks out in a deep ass/baritone voice, "IT'S BRUCE!" So I have since given him some leeway but overall he is a sellout asswipe.

As for The Good Ol' Grateful Dead. The problem with you haters is they don't meet up to your expectations of what a rock and roll band should be..... in a pop music kind of AM radio formula you were weaned on. That really isn't their fault, now is it?

Anyhow my point is this, they aren't some formula band conceived in the board room as what will sell records like your heroes, The Monkees or some such nonsense. They are simply the house band for The Merry Pranksters. Either you get them or you don't. To put it most succinctly, either you are on the bus, or you aren't. And that is okay by me.

People who don't understand the dead most usually don't understand Bob Dylan. Dylan just doesn't care what you think of his music. He is a poet who because of his coffee house, folk music scene upbringing sets his poems to music. They are his and his alone that he chooses to share with the rest of the world. Like The Grateful Dead no two versions of a song are alike. Bands like U2or Bruce or Piano Man or any of a host of so called "artists" they practice until they have one way of playing the same crap over and over as if it were on the radio. Anyone who gets off on that is stuck in the world of teenybopper music.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

I saw Springsteen several times. Pretty much sucked ass. Except this one show all the little girls (like soak_ed) were screaming in unison with high pitched girly voices "Bruce, Bruce, Bruce" and Springsteen walks up to the edge of the stage and barks out in a deep ass/baritone voice, "IT'S BRUCE!" So I have since given him some leeway but overall he is a sellout asswipe.

As for The Good Ol' Grateful Dead. The problem with you haters is they don't meet up to your expectations of what a rock and roll band should be..... in a pop music kind of AM radio formula you were weaned on. That really isn't their fault, now is it?

Anyhow my point is this, they aren't some formula band conceived in the board room as what will sell records like your heroes, The Monkees or some such nonsense. They are simply the house band for The Merry Pranksters. Either you get them or you don't. To put it most succinctly, either you are on the bus, or you aren't. And that is okay by me.

People who don't understand the dead most usually don't understand Bob Dylan. Dylan just doesn't care what you think of his music. He is a poet who because of his coffee house, folk music scene upbringing sets his poems to music. They are his and his alone that he chooses to share with the rest of the world. Like The Grateful Dead no two versions of a song are alike. Bands like U2or Bruce or Piano Man or any of a host of so called "artists" they practice until they have one way of playing the same crap over and over as if it were on the radio. Anyone who gets off on that is stuck in the world of teenybopper music.

Well, as has been pointed out over and over, opinions are like assholes, everybody is entitled to one. If you hate Bruce so much why did you bother to see him more than once? There are all kinds of artists out there. There are the ones like Dylan that don't give a shit what people think and that's ok but I think that is it's own kind of pretension. Then there are artists like Bruce that acknowledge that his fans made him very rich and successful and he busts his ass night after night because he knows that maybe a lot of people in the audience saved up their money because they just want to hear Born to Run live just once in their life so he plays it for them just like it was the first time he ever played it because he is grateful for their support. However, Bruce plays different versions of his less famous songs all of the time, he improvises, reworks them and discovers new things in them. I have seen Eric Clapton 3 times. The man is a consummate artist and in my opinion the finest blues rock guitarist ever. He hates Layla and he plays it like he hates it. I hate the Grateful Dead because I find their music boring and painful to my ears, not because I was weaned on AM pop radio. The thing I hate the most about the Dead is people like you that think you are in on this big secret and nobody else is savvy enough to groove on a bunch of tripping idiots that think they are performing something so special because only the cognoscenti "get it". If I want to call out the emperor for being naked, I will, you can stay on the bus and drink the kool aid all you like. Most "Dead Heads" remind me of the 9-5 business folks that change in to their grease stained jeans on the weekend and go out and ride their Harleys and think they are true outlaws, living "in the wind".

I enjoy almost every kind of music from Baroque to Classic to jazz to rock, if the artist is truly passionate and the passion shows in the music, then I will usually appreciate it no matter what kind of music it is, even country music on occasion.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

I saw Springsteen several times. Pretty much sucked ass. Except this one show all the little girls (like soak_ed) were screaming in unison with high pitched girly voices "Bruce, Bruce, Bruce" and Springsteen walks up to the edge of the stage and barks out in a deep ass/baritone voice, "IT'S BRUCE!" So I have since given him some leeway but overall he is a sellout asswipe.

As for The Good Ol' Grateful Dead. The problem with you haters is they don't meet up to your expectations of what a rock and roll band should be..... in a pop music kind of AM radio formula you were weaned on. That really isn't their fault, now is it?

Anyhow my point is this, they aren't some formula band conceived in the board room as what will sell records like your heroes, The Monkees or some such nonsense. They are simply the house band for The Merry Pranksters. Either you get them or you don't. To put it most succinctly, either you are on the bus, or you aren't. And that is okay by me.

People who don't understand the dead most usually don't understand Bob Dylan. Dylan just doesn't care what you think of his music. He is a poet who because of his coffee house, folk music scene upbringing sets his poems to music. They are his and his alone that he chooses to share with the rest of the world. Like The Grateful Dead no two versions of a song are alike. Bands like U2or Bruce or Piano Man or any of a host of so called "artists" they practice until they have one way of playing the same crap over and over as if it were on the radio. Anyone who gets off on that is stuck in the world of teenybopper music.

Well, as has been pointed out over and over, opinions are like assholes, everybody is entitled to one. If you hate Bruce so much why did you bother to see him more than once? There are all kinds of artists out there. There are the ones like Dylan that don't give a shit what people think and that's ok but I think that is it's own kind of pretension. Then there are artists like Bruce that acknowledge that his fans made him very rich and successful and he busts his ass night after night because he knows that maybe a lot of people in the audience saved up their money because they just want to hear Born to Run live just once in their life so he plays it for them just like it was the first time he ever played it because he is grateful for their support. However, Bruce plays different versions of his less famous songs all of the time, he improvises, reworks them and discovers new things in them. I have seen Eric Clapton 3 times. The man is a consummate artist and in my opinion the finest blues rock guitarist ever. He hates Layla and he plays it like he hates it. I hate the Grateful Dead because I find their music boring and painful to my ears, not because I was weaned on AM pop radio. The thing I hate the most about the Dead is people like you that think you are in on this big secret and nobody else is savvy enough to groove on a bunch of tripping idiots that think they are performing something so special because only the cognoscenti "get it". If I want to call out the emperor for being naked, I will, you can stay on the bus and drink the kool aid all you like. Most "Dead Heads" remind me of the 9-5 business folks that change in to their grease stained jeans on the weekend and go out and ride their Harleys and think they are true outlaws, living "in the wind".

I enjoy almost every kind of music from Baroque to Classic to jazz to rock, if the artist is truly passionate and the passion shows in the music, then I will usually appreciate it no matter what kind of music it is, even country music on occasion.

First off, I am not your typical deadhead and in some regard don't even consider myself a deadhead. Secondly I fully agree with you that there was a whole wave of people that came upon the dead after Englishtown that started the stadium trend. I thought that a real shame and the beginning of the end as they progressed from that dirty little secret of a band into a major act/draw.

Seen Bruce three times. Once before Born to Run at the Stone Pony. While he was whacked out on Quaaludes I take it, mumbling and just very fuked up, it was a very good show that went on for quite some time.

After the release of Born to Run I saw him again. Still had an edge but clearly cleaning up his act and moving towards mainstream. The third time I saw him it was over and he was done. Complete sellout. You can regard him as some working man's hero but his whole act became about getting another couple of bucks from the faithful. No better and no worse than say Billy Joel or Elton John. All pretty much followed the same path to stardom by way of selling out.

BTW, your last paragraph defies logic as applied to The Grateful Dead. Like any band they had some bad shows. But thy often tried to give it their best shot with all the passion they could muster. But to each his own.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

First off, I am not your typical deadhead and in some regard don't even consider myself a deadhead. Secondly I fully agree with you that there was a whole wave of people that came upon the dead after Englishtown that started the stadium trend. I thought that a real shame and the beginning of the end as they progressed from that dirty little secret of a band into a major act/draw.

Seen Bruce three times. Once before Born to Run at the Stone Pony. While he was whacked out on Quaaludes I take it, mumbling and just very fuked up, it was a very good show that went on for quite some time.

After the release of Born to Run I saw him again. Still had an edge but clearly cleaning up his act and moving towards mainstream. The third time I saw him it was over and he was done. Complete sellout. You can regard him as some working man's hero but his whole act became about getting another couple of bucks from the faithful. No better and no worse than say Billy Joel or Elton John. All pretty much followed the same path to stardom by way of selling out.

BTW, your last paragraph defies logic as applied to The Grateful Dead. Like any band they had some bad shows. But thy often tried to give it their best shot with all the passion they could muster. But to each his own.

I can almost see the logic of calling Bruce a sellout, however. Bruce will be 67 in a few months. He has made more money than he or his children can ever reasonably spend. Yet he still goes out on tour. I think he tours because he truly loves what he does and he wants to give his fans what they paid to see. I got involved in theater as a teen, majored in technical theater in college and been involved in countless productions. I have helped setting up a few name performer concerts. When I married my third wife, she was a music teacher, orchestra conductor, choir director and music therapist. I have seen live performances of all kinds for most of my life. I have never, ever seen a performer that gives so much energy and works a crowd as well as Bruce Springsteen. In my opinion the greatest reason for his success is not his brilliant songwriting or his meticulously layered wall of sound that is played so well by the incredibly tight E Street Band. The biggest thing about him is he puts out 110% at just about every show he plays and his fans can feel it. He does it because he loves it. Maybe you feel the same way about the Grateful Dead, I don't see it but that doesn't mean it isn't there.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Springsteen is no different then say Elton John or Billy Joel in many regards. Sure they have a few good tunes, but their target audience is to click with the chicks. Springsteen is the kind of show you take a date to.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Springsteen is no different then say Elton John or Billy Joel in many regards. Sure they have a few good tunes, but their target audience is to click with the chicks. Springsteen is the kind of show you take a date to.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Springsteen is no different then say Elton John or Billy Joel in many regards. Sure they have a few good tunes, but their target audience is to click with the chicks. Springsteen is the kind of show you take a date to.

The biggest problem with Springsteen is that most of his act, from his vocals to his lyrical feel, seems essentially a rip-off from Tom Waits and Steve Earl, minus Waits' genuine questioning, and embrace of failure and minus Earl's mind blowing abilities. To hear Springsteen murder Waits' Jersey Girl is almost as as depressing as hearing Rod Stewart murder Downtown Train, or hear The Eagles add nothing to Ol 55.

I guess I can see why Springsteen sold so much music ... it's an approachable, bar-friendly way to package music by Waits, Pete Seeger and Earle. But once you hear the actual good stuff, it's hard to appreciate the photocopied tribute album.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

I saw Springsteen several times. Pretty much sucked ass. Except this one show all the little girls (like soak_ed) were screaming in unison with high pitched girly voices "Bruce, Bruce, Bruce" and Springsteen walks up to the edge of the stage and barks out in a deep ass/baritone voice, "IT'S BRUCE!" So I have since given him some leeway but overall he is a sellout asswipe.

As for The Good Ol' Grateful Dead. The problem with you haters is they don't meet up to your expectations of what a rock and roll band should be..... in a pop music kind of AM radio formula you were weaned on. That really isn't their fault, now is it?

Anyhow my point is this, they aren't some formula band conceived in the board room as what will sell records like your heroes, The Monkees or some such nonsense. They are simply the house band for The Merry Pranksters. Either you get them or you don't. To put it most succinctly, either you are on the bus, or you aren't. And that is okay by me.

People who don't understand the dead most usually don't understand Bob Dylan. Dylan just doesn't care what you think of his music. He is a poet who because of his coffee house, folk music scene upbringing sets his poems to music. They are his and his alone that he chooses to share with the rest of the world. Like The Grateful Dead no two versions of a song are alike. Bands like U2or Bruce or Piano Man or any of a host of so called "artists" they practice until they have one way of playing the same crap over and over as if it were on the radio. Anyone who gets off on that is stuck in the world of teenybopper music.

Dylan was an incredible songwriter.

The dead were and are pretentious, douches akin to modern jazz musicians.

I always hear the same excuse. You have to appreciate the improvisation. All styles of music have improvisation but if the Dead and/or Jazz is only about improvisation then it is just musical masturbation. It feels great for the ones doing it but I don't want to watch you doing it.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

C'mon Shadow, you are just jealous because I ripped on your favorite band. You obviously tone deaf from Listening to the Dead because there isn't anyone in that band that can or could sing worth a shit. Those guys couldn't carry a tune if you strapped it to their back. I have heard cats in heat that sound better. And their legendary jams are just a bunch of musicians going off in all different directions at once because the band members are all tripping, high or both and the audience is in the same state so they think it is "creative" and special but really it is just so much noise. Nuthin' but a bag of dicks holding instruments, a group of baboons could do better. But if you and other people like them, it's ok, I am not going to criticize you for it, I mean people buy Beyonce's music so.... If I could listen to more than 1 1/2 minutes of one of the Dead's songs I might get to like them but it hurts my ears and my head too much so I'll stick to Bruce thanks.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Springsteen is no different then say Elton John or Billy Joel in many regards. Sure they have a few good tunes, but their target audience is to click with the chicks. Springsteen is the kind of show you take a date to.

The biggest problem with Springsteen is that most of his act, from his vocals to his lyrical feel, seems essentially a rip-off from Tom Waits and Steve Earl, minus Waits' genuine questioning, and embrace of failure and minus Earl's mind blowing abilities. To hear Springsteen murder Waits' Jersey Girl is almost as as depressing as hearing Rod Stewart murder Downtown Train, or hear The Eagles add nothing to Ol 55.

I guess I can see why Springsteen sold so much music ... it's an approachable, bar-friendly way to package music by Waits, Pete Seeger and Earle. But once you hear the actual good stuff, it's hard to appreciate the photocopied tribute album.

Good to see you know as much about music as you know about eating raw fish, history and everything else you claim to be an expert on. A real Renaissance man you are Mikey. The one thing you do truly excel at is bull shit.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

C'mon Shadow, you are just jealous because I ripped on your favorite band. You obviously tone deaf from Listening to the Dead because there isn't anyone in that band that can or could sing worth a shit. Those guys couldn't carry a tune if you strapped it to their back. I have heard cats in heat that sound better. And their legendary jams are just a bunch of musicians going off in all different directions at once because the band members are all tripping, high or both and the audience is in the same state so they think it is "creative" and special but really it is just so much noise. Nuthin' but a bag of dicks holding instruments, a group of baboons could do better. But if you and other people like them, it's ok, I am not going to criticize you for it, I mean people buy Beyonce's music so.... If I could listen to more than 1 1/2 minutes of one of the Dead's songs I might get to like them but it hurts my ears and my head too much so I'll stick to Bruce thanks.

See here is the flaw in your thinking. I don't give a crap about what you think of The Grateful Dead. You started this thread just to troll the deadheads and others who may think they were a darn good band who left a remarkable legacy. What you got was a Bruce Bash and from that a butt hurt because you are a Bruce lover. The difference is that Springsteen fans think everyone else who doesn't care for Springsteen is some sort of a-hole (the reverse is closer to the truth) whereas folks who like the dead don't care what others think and don't expect them to understand the connection.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

C'mon Shadow, you are just jealous because I ripped on your favorite band. You obviously tone deaf from Listening to the Dead because there isn't anyone in that band that can or could sing worth a shit. Those guys couldn't carry a tune if you strapped it to their back. I have heard cats in heat that sound better. And their legendary jams are just a bunch of musicians going off in all different directions at once because the band members are all tripping, high or both and the audience is in the same state so they think it is "creative" and special but really it is just so much noise. Nuthin' but a bag of dicks holding instruments, a group of baboons could do better. But if you and other people like them, it's ok, I am not going to criticize you for it, I mean people buy Beyonce's music so.... If I could listen to more than 1 1/2 minutes of one of the Dead's songs I might get to like them but it hurts my ears and my head too much so I'll stick to Bruce thanks.

See here is the flaw in your thinking. I don't give a crap about what you think of The Grateful Dead. You started this thread just to troll the deadheads and others who may think they were a darn good band who left a remarkable legacy. What you got was a Bruce Bash and from that a butt hurt because you are a Bruce lover. The difference is that Springsteen fans think everyone else who doesn't care for Springsteen is some sort of a-hole (the reverse is closer to the truth) whereas folks who like the dead don't care what others think and don't expect them to understand the connection.

I see what happened now. You got beat up by a Springsteen fan because you were wearing a temporary Dead tattoo when you were a freshman in high school. Shit happens. HTFU or go join Wofsey in his stairwell, crybaby.

BTW is it true you favorite Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavors are Cherry Garcia and Schweddy Balls, because those are your two favorite things in life?

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Springsteen is no different then say Elton John or Billy Joel in many regards. Sure they have a few good tunes, but their target audience is to click with the chicks. Springsteen is the kind of show you take a date to.

The biggest problem with Springsteen is that most of his act, from his vocals to his lyrical feel, seems essentially a rip-off from Tom Waits and Steve Earl, minus Waits' genuine questioning, and embrace of failure and minus Earl's mind blowing abilities. To hear Springsteen murder Waits' Jersey Girl is almost as as depressing as hearing Rod Stewart murder Downtown Train, or hear The Eagles add nothing to Ol 55.

I guess I can see why Springsteen sold so much music ... it's an approachable, bar-friendly way to package music by Waits, Pete Seeger and Earle. But once you hear the actual good stuff, it's hard to appreciate the photocopied tribute album.

Good to see you know as much about music as you know about eating raw fish, history and everything else you claim to be an expert on. A real Renaissance man you are Mikey. The one thing you do truly excel at is bull shit.

It's okay that you're a big Springsteen fan, musical fast food, like regular fast food, is bound to be popular, because it's cheap and tasty, regardless that there isn't a lot of substance to it. Hell, when my kids listen to Japanese pop music I like it, so don't think I'm judging you, there is nothing at all wrong with derivative music that tugs at the physiology. But it's a guilty pleasure, it usually makes sense to consume something of substance now and again.

So don't get defensive, Springsteen is decent enough music, I can tolerate it a lot more than say, the 900th radio playing of Night Moves or that fucking song by Quarterflash "Harden my Heart" that for some bizarre reason has been playing in every convenience store for the last 25 years. It's just that I don't hear much in Springsteen that I haven't heard someone else do a lot better than he does it, other than understanding his target market, at which he excels.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Springsteen is no different then say Elton John or Billy Joel in many regards. Sure they have a few good tunes, but their target audience is to click with the chicks. Springsteen is the kind of show you take a date to.

The biggest problem with Springsteen is that most of his act, from his vocals to his lyrical feel, seems essentially a rip-off from Tom Waits and Steve Earl, minus Waits' genuine questioning, and embrace of failure and minus Earl's mind blowing abilities. To hear Springsteen murder Waits' Jersey Girl is almost as as depressing as hearing Rod Stewart murder Downtown Train, or hear The Eagles add nothing to Ol 55.

I guess I can see why Springsteen sold so much music ... it's an approachable, bar-friendly way to package music by Waits, Pete Seeger and Earle. But once you hear the actual good stuff, it's hard to appreciate the photocopied tribute album.

Good to see you know as much about music as you know about eating raw fish, history and everything else you claim to be an expert on. A real Renaissance man you are Mikey. The one thing you do truly excel at is bull shit.

It's okay that you're a big Springsteen fan, musical fast food, like regular fast food, is bound to be popular, because it's cheap and tasty, regardless that there isn't a lot of substance to it. Hell, when my kids listen to Japanese pop music I like it, so don't think I'm judging you, there is nothing at all wrong with derivative music that tugs at the physiology. But it's a guilty pleasure, it usually makes sense to consume something of substance now and again.

Sure Mikey, you're right, like always. Speaking of consuming things of substance, are you still giving blow jobs to horny cadets at the Air Force Academy?

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

C'mon Shadow, you are just jealous because I ripped on your favorite band. You obviously tone deaf from Listening to the Dead because there isn't anyone in that band that can or could sing worth a shit. Those guys couldn't carry a tune if you strapped it to their back. I have heard cats in heat that sound better. And their legendary jams are just a bunch of musicians going off in all different directions at once because the band members are all tripping, high or both and the audience is in the same state so they think it is "creative" and special but really it is just so much noise. Nuthin' but a bag of dicks holding instruments, a group of baboons could do better. But if you and other people like them, it's ok, I am not going to criticize you for it, I mean people buy Beyonce's music so.... If I could listen to more than 1 1/2 minutes of one of the Dead's songs I might get to like them but it hurts my ears and my head too much so I'll stick to Bruce thanks.

See here is the flaw in your thinking. I don't give a crap about what you think of The Grateful Dead. You started this thread just to troll the deadheads and others who may think they were a darn good band who left a remarkable legacy. What you got was a Bruce Bash and from that a butt hurt because you are a Bruce lover. The difference is that Springsteen fans think everyone else who doesn't care for Springsteen is some sort of a-hole (the reverse is closer to the truth) whereas folks who like the dead don't care what others think and don't expect them to understand the connection.

I see what happened now. You got beat up by a Springsteen fan because you were wearing a temporary Dead tattoo when you were a freshman in high school. Shit happens. HTFU or go join Wofsey in his stairwell, crybaby.

BTW is it true you favorite Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavors are Cherry Garcia and Schweddy Balls, because those are your two favorite things in life?

No, not at all. Like I said, I have seen Bruce three times through the course of the development of his career. Have no issue with his earliest of music and thought he had solid potential.

Was never a dead "fan" as mentioned earlier. That said I did see them over 100 times mostly from 1975 and 1985. Then again I saw all sorts of acts in that time frame. A very broad spectrum of music if not thoroughly eclectic. The people I hung with were not your average Deadheads either if deadheads at all. Yes we traveled about but we were not tie-die wearing space-oids and traveling to see shows was not always a Grateful Dead centric event. As the dead go, we were not ones for the lyrics so to speak, but the music. To quote Barlow, "One in ten thousand come for the show". We were closer to that one in ten thousand than your average deadhead. Much of our touring had to do with other acts or events as well, some international super star types, some regional phenoms. Aficionados of a sort.

You can run on all you like as you please. Just shows your lack of sophistication..... which we already knew based on your tastes in music.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Pretty much my experience as well, though I don't think I saw them that many times. They sure had a lot of good shows in that era, more loaded towards to the front part, before Jerry decided smoking heroin with his cocaine was a good idea.

What I am remembering this morning is the sunrise 39 years ago, over 8" of freshly fallen snow, as I pulled into the college campus on the day of a lab practical exam having been up all night at the Cornell show and subsequent 5 hour long strange trip back to school over the unplowed roads. Anyone who was at that show and didn't like it can honestly say The Dead was not for them. Obviously, I've never forgotten it.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

C'mon Shadow, you are just jealous because I ripped on your favorite band. You obviously tone deaf from Listening to the Dead because there isn't anyone in that band that can or could sing worth a shit. Those guys couldn't carry a tune if you strapped it to their back. I have heard cats in heat that sound better. And their legendary jams are just a bunch of musicians going off in all different directions at once because the band members are all tripping, high or both and the audience is in the same state so they think it is "creative" and special but really it is just so much noise. Nuthin' but a bag of dicks holding instruments, a group of baboons could do better. But if you and other people like them, it's ok, I am not going to criticize you for it, I mean people buy Beyonce's music so.... If I could listen to more than 1 1/2 minutes of one of the Dead's songs I might get to like them but it hurts my ears and my head too much so I'll stick to Bruce thanks.

See here is the flaw in your thinking. I don't give a crap about what you think of The Grateful Dead. You started this thread just to troll the deadheads and others who may think they were a darn good band who left a remarkable legacy. What you got was a Bruce Bash and from that a butt hurt because you are a Bruce lover. The difference is that Springsteen fans think everyone else who doesn't care for Springsteen is some sort of a-hole (the reverse is closer to the truth) whereas folks who like the dead don't care what others think and don't expect them to understand the connection.

I see what happened now. You got beat up by a Springsteen fan because you were wearing a temporary Dead tattoo when you were a freshman in high school. Shit happens. HTFU or go join Wofsey in his stairwell, crybaby.

BTW is it true you favorite Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavors are Cherry Garcia and Schweddy Balls, because those are your two favorite things in life?

No, not at all. Like I said, I have seen Bruce three times through the course of the development of his career. Have no issue with his earliest of music and thought he had solid potential.

Was never a dead "fan" as mentioned earlier. That said I did see them over 100 times mostly from 1975 and 1985. Then again I saw all sorts of acts in that time frame. A very broad spectrum of music if not thoroughly eclectic. The people I hung with were not your average Deadheads either if deadheads at all. Yes we traveled about but we were not tie-die wearing space-oids and traveling to see shows was not always a Grateful Dead centric event. As the dead go, we were not ones for the lyrics so to speak, but the music. To quote Barlow, "One in ten thousand come for the show". We were closer to that one in ten thousand than your average deadhead. Much of our touring had to do with other acts or events as well, some international super star types, some regional phenoms. Aficionados of a sort.

You can run on all you like as you please. Just shows your lack of sophistication..... which we already knew based on your tastes in music.

In all seriousness, can you explain something to me? If you are not such a great fan of the Dead, why did you see them over a hundred times? That is a lot of time to spend seeing a band that you are not crazy about. I could understand ten or twenty times but over one hundred? Just wondering.

As far as the rest of the conversation goes, first of all there is no equivalence between the Dead and Springsteen other then they are both bands. I don't see how your opinion of one of my favorite performers invalidates my opinion of a band you appear to like somewhat. I didn't start this thread to troll as you claim, I was just interested to see if there are people out there that share my low opinion of the Dead. Apparently there are some and some Springsteen haters as well. I still don't see what hating on Springsteen has to do with the Dead. You have your opinion, I have mine. To make a comment about my lack of sophistication in musical taste is ludicrous, you have no idea what other kinds of music I like. I don't think you are an asshole because you don't appreciate Springsteen very much, I think so because of the way you are trying to say I am an asshole. I think what you are doing here is trying to teach me a lesson. You want to show me that I must be some kind of asshole and by doing it the way you are, you appear to be just as big an asshole. I guess you showed me! Speaking of assholes, they are like opinions, everybody is entitled to one. You like the Dead, I don't. I like Springsteen, you not so much. If you want to disagree with me, keep it in the realm of the real. De gustibus non disputandum. And the world still turns and life goes on.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

And I think you misunderstand. I do like The Grateful Dead.... I'm just not some whacked out deadhead. When they came and played Radio City Music Hall, all those years ago. Few friends and I are walking down The Avenue of the Americas. We are looking at all the posey space cadets who all seemingly bought into something that really didn't exist, this roadshow of some mythical counter-culture. Playing hackey-sack and beating tambourines and all that sort of nonsense. One of my friends says, "Geezus, I didn't know the circus was in town?" To put it another way, I didn't have a bumper sticker that proclaimed I was one of Jerry's Kids.

As for trying to school you. Not really. I am a New Yorker. Maybe you have heard this before but we tend to give as good as we get. No malice intended. Just giving it right back to you.

BTW, Springsteen does suck. All plastic and has been way worse since Clarence Clemons died. Now that guy could play!

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

And I think you misunderstand. I do like The Grateful Dead.... I'm just not some whacked out deadhead. When they came and played Radio City Music Hall, all those years ago. Few friends and I are walking down The Avenue of the Americas. We are looking at all the posey space cadets who all seemingly bought into something that really didn't exist, this roadshow of some mythical counter-culture. Playing hackey-sack and beating tambourines and all that sort of nonsense. One of my friends says, "Geezus, I didn't know the circus was in town?" To put it another way, I didn't have a bumper sticker that proclaimed I was one of Jerry's Kids.

As for trying to school you. Not really. I am a New Yorker. Maybe you have heard this before but we tend to give as good as we get. No malice intended. Just giving it right back to you.

BTW, Springsteen does suck. All plastic and has been way worse since Clarence Clemons died. Now that guy could play!

Sigh. You just don't recognize true genius when you hear it. Bruce is practically a home boy if you are a New Yorker. Freehold, NJ isn't that far away. The Dead are from California. Shame on you, you must not be a real New Yorker. I must say though, maybe you are genuine, you certainly exhibit a lot of the condescension and arrogance that many New Yorkers are known for. I can forgive some of that, I have been to a lot of the major cites in the Northern Hemisphere and other than Tokyo which comes close, I have never been in a city with such electric energy and the outright amazing vibe, anywhere else in my travels. Rome is ancient and beautiful, Paris is romantic and cultured, Berlin is big and often ugly but still cool, London is eclectic and foggy, Warsaw is historically tragic, Amsterdam is funky and beautiful, San Francisco is breathtaking but there is only one New York, no doubt the coolest city in the world.

The E Street Band just isn't the same without the Big Guy but they still produce that amazing wall of sound that almost makes them a rock and roll orchestra, Max and Roy are the unsung heroes of the band and having 3 lead guitarists that all compliment each other is great. At almost age 67 I think Bruce is starting to lose his mojo slowly and I hope he has enough sense to retire soon and remain a hero rather than turn in to an embarrassing caricature of what he once was. He can still kick ass but not consistently the way he used to. When I go to see him next month in Berlin, I am pretty sure it will be the last concert of his that I will attend.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

listening to springsteen is like looping a chromosome deficient austrolopithecus robustus male fucking a bowel movement. there is ZERO redeeming value to his quote/unquote music and if it weren't for some nationalistic bullshit tune, his irrelevancy outside his home area would necessitate him to play dives (which is about the only place you hear him outside of nyc). there's two kinds of people found at bruce shows; fucking new yaawkers and other associated music-taste-less morons

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

listening to springsteen is like looping a chromosome deficient austrolopithecus robustus male fucking a bowel movement. there is ZERO redeeming value to his quote/unquote music and if it weren't for some nationalistic bullshit tune, his irrelevancy would remain outside his home area. there's two kinds of people found at bruce shows; fucking new yaawkers and other associated music-taste-less morons

Don't hide your feelings there.

If you are referring to Born in the USA, you never listened to the lyrics have you. If ignorance is bliss, I suspect you are very happy.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Excuse me aA sir. Just one small point of clarification. Most "New Yawkers" are actually transplants from god knows where. However, that aside, if not for spring tours on the northeast college circuit the good ol grateful dead would have never had the highs they enjoyed.

Aside from that, I like your rant. It gets right to the heart of the matter but our polish friend from Pennsylvania still won't get it.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Had the opportunity to see Bruce Springsteen many times long before he really hit it big national. He was pretty popular in the Philadelphia market from 73 on and really owes The Main Point in Bryn Mawr, PA a lot for his success. To which he did show gratitude once for a benefit concert that was needed to keep the place open.. But he did it solo, not like the others that did it as a group with the likes of Joni Mitchell, Jackson Brown, Linda Ronstandt, Warren Zevon (Ware Wolfes of Bryn Mawr recording), James Taylor, Elton John, and the list goes on.. After he went national, he dropped them like a bad habit…

I am intimate with this, because in HS I worked there on the weekends and sometimes during the week if the act was real good…

But lets face it, Bruce is no Tom Petty who is of the same era.. His music is pretty much the same shit, your life sucks, you got Angie knocked up, it someone else’s fault, now what are they going to do about it.. From a guy that came from upper middle class New Jersey and had signed a Columbia record deal early on, he really does understand the struggle of the working class that he sings about..

Getting back to the Dead, yeah, I have been to a few shows over the years.... Hells Bells, they were at the Ventura Fair Ground in the mid 80's.... I could walk to the show. The whole thing about the Dead is the show and the carnival that accompanies it.. The music is good.. well OK at best. Do I run around in tie dye shirt, chasing down the latest bootleg recordings (which the Dead allowed at all there shows), and getting tickets the minute the come on sale... no, never did, and never will. Do I like the music yes, do I listen to the Dead Hour from time to time, yes… The thing about the Dead is they were a working band, and they worked pretty hard on touring.

One of my benchmarks of a good musician, not a performer, is the collaboration they have with their peers… Again, look at Tom Petty… when the Heartbreakers were climbing what did they do? Pulled back played back up for Bob Dylan for a couple of years. Think about that… Look at the collaboration of some of the member’s of the Dead! Has Springsteen performed with others, yes, they all do it…. Has he collaborated with others on various projects…. Hmmm very little if any.. He is all about Bruce.

I like all music, even some disco and rap can be found on my iPod, as for Bruce, I like some of the early stuff he did… hell, got my first feel and a little more while listing to For You.. But as my brother who is pretty high on up the Sony-Columbia food chain notes…. “You have a platinum, we’re going to through a lot more money at you, you have two platinum, we’re going to make you a money making machine… ergo, you’re now product.” Food for thought!

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

listening to springsteen is like looping a chromosome deficient austrolopithecus robustus male fucking a bowel movement. there is ZERO redeeming value to his quote/unquote music and if it weren't for some nationalistic bullshit tune, his irrelevancy outside his home area would necessitate him to play dives (which is about the only place you hear him outside of nyc). there's two kinds of people found at bruce shows; fucking new yaawkers and other associated music-taste-less morons

You left out "the fucking guidos...."

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

One of my benchmarks of a good musician, not a performer, is the collaboration they have with their peers Again, look at Tom Petty when the Heartbreakers were climbing what did they do? Pulled back played back up for Bob Dylan for a couple of years. Think about that Look at the collaboration of some of the members of the Dead! Has Springsteen performed with others, yes, they all do it. Has he collaborated with others on various projects. Hmmm very little if any.. He is all about Bruce.

Springsteen did collaborate with Tom Waits, I guess to make up for ripping off Waits' act all those years. Springsteen covers Waits' song okay, but when you hear the originator of the song take the mic, the song suddenly means something very different then Springsteen was able to muster with his nightclub act. To his credit, at least Springsteen covered the song a little better than Jon Bonjovi, and neither one of those guys debased it the way Pearl Jam did ... Eddie Vedder should have been holding a, shovel to bury the remains of that performance rather than a mic.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Actually I do know shit about music. I know a bit about drugs too. My opinion stands, The Grateful Dead suck balls.

opinions are like assholes

and Ed's is on his face

Did I hit a nerve there Al? Are you just another one of those wannabe fake hippies like so many other Dead Heads? Have you ever dropped acid?

My first show was June 1972 @ Hollywood Bowl. The Dead had just done their Europe 72 tour I think. Or were just about to start the tour. I think the NRPS opened the show, maybe. It was also my first LSD trip- brown window pane. Or was it orange sunshine? Naw, it was the window pane because I remember thinking how could that tiny chip, no bigger than the head of a match do all that. I had just finished my first year of high school too!

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Actually I do know shit about music. I know a bit about drugs too. My opinion stands, The Grateful Dead suck balls.

opinions are like assholes

and Ed's is on his face

Did I hit a nerve there Al? Are you just another one of those wannabe fake hippies like so many other Dead Heads? Have you ever dropped acid?

My first show was June 1972 @ Hollywood Bowl. The Dead had just done their Europe 72 tour I think. Or were just about to start the tour. I think the NRPS opened the show, maybe. It was also my first LSD trip- brown window pane. Or was it orange sunshine? Naw, it was the window pane because I remember thinking how could that tiny chip, no bigger than the head of a match do all that. I had just finished my first year of high school too!

Ok Al, you established your cred, thanks. I still thing the Dead suck though. I don't know about you but when I tripped, time slowed down to a really slow crawl. I just couldn't imagine listening to somebody lie the dead with time moving that slowly. A 20 minute jam would seem like several hours. No thanks.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

listening to springsteen is like looping a chromosome deficient austrolopithecus robustus male fucking a bowel movement. there is ZERO redeeming value to his quote/unquote music and if it weren't for some nationalistic bullshit tune, his irrelevancy outside his home area would necessitate him to play dives (which is about the only place you hear him outside of nyc). there's two kinds of people found at bruce shows; fucking new yaawkers and other associated music-taste-less morons